


Christmas Braid (December 6)

by Kireii-yume (kireii_yume)



Series: Kireii-Yume's Christmas Advent Calendar! [6]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, I'll Be Home For Christmas, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-06 23:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8773501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kireii_yume/pseuds/Kireii-yume
Summary: Severa and Gaius eagerly await Cordelia's return, and Gaius wants to make it special. Modern AU





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by the song "I'll Be Home for Christmas"! Hope all of you enjoy!

“When is mommy coming home?” Severa demanded, squirming around. The little five year old never seemed to sit still, and though Gaius could relate, now was really not the time. 

“Soon, cupcake, soon. That’s why we’re gonna get your hair braided, okay? Sit still.” 

“But daddy! I want to know when mommy’s coming back!” She wiggled away, rushing to the window. Gaius sighed. Cordelia had been away for a few weeks, working as a flight attendant for a major airline. She’d been able to travel the world, crisscrossing the globe, but they hadn’t seen her and had barely heard from her. But she promised that she’d be home to celebrate Christmas with her family, and Gaius and Severa had been delighted to hear it. However, Cordelia did like order in her household, and that meant that Severa’s hair couldn’t be flying everywhere. If left to her own devices, Severa would tangle and knot it, thus the necessity of a braid. 

“Okay, you can sit at the window, but I’ve gotta braid your hair. You know mommy likes your hair neat.” Severa let out a long-suffering sigh, giving her father a pouty look before turning back to the window, watching the last bits of snow settle on the powdery ground. Gaius separated the hair into three neat strands, making them as equal as he could, and starting to pass one over the other slowly, meticulously, trying to make it look perfect. “Is that too tight?” Severa shook her head, forcing Gaius to try and move the braid with her so his work wouldn’t be undone. “Okay, one minute…done.” Gaius bit back a curse as the elastic snapped, leaving a red mark on the back of his hand, but he reached for another and secured the braid neatly. “Now we’re done.” 

“Yay!” Severa squealed, and jumped up to sit on the sill. Her chubby toddler hands made imprints on the cold glass, and the way her cheek squished as she pressed her face to the window made Gaius laugh. 

“Okay, sweetheart, be patient,” he heard himself say, but his own heart was beating faster, and he found himself looking around the corner to see if Cordelia’s taxi was coming soon. She was everything to him. After living a less than ideal life after high school, meeting her motivated him to get his life together, stop living off petty thefts and go to college instead. Cordelia was the reason he had a degree, a job, a beautiful daughter, probably even a life, if he was really honest. He owed everything to her, so the least he could do was let her come home to an orderly household. Heck, he’d cleaned the house top to bottom, even scrubbed the baseboards (who even knew you needed to do that?). Freshly baked and decorated sugar cookies sat on the counter, just waiting for his wife. The tree was trimmed, the house was decked out with lights, and the driveway was shoveled. Dinner was in the oven as well, timed to be ready whenever Cordelia got home. Gaius wanted to sweep Cordelia off her feet. It was also the reason that Severa was in a little green dress, one that she’d modeled in the mirror for about half an hour, twirling and admiring it and giggling when it fluffed up. And for his part, Gaius had combed his hair out, even taming the unruly strand by his eye, and he wore nice pants with a button-down shirt. He’d tried his hardest to make sure everything was perfect for Cordelia’s return, and he just couldn’t wait until it paid off, until he saw her perfect smile and her perfect eyes lighting up. So he sat next to Severa on the window sill, ignoring how cold the glass felt, just looking out and waiting for headlights to shine around the corner. 

And soon enough, they did.

When the taxi pulled up, Severa squealed and ran for the door. Gaius could hardly believe it was the right one, but sure enough, Cordelia stepped out. Despite having spent the past month in airports and hotels, she looked perfect, as always. Her hair was tied into a neat bun, with not a strand out of place, her makeup was subtle and elegant, and she was even wearing heels. It took Gaius a moment to catch his breath, but soon he joined Severa at the door. Cordelia opened it, and Gaius had to hold Severa back so she didn’t tackle her mother. “Mommy!” Severa screamed, thrashing against Gaius’s hold, and when Cordelia looked a little bit more prepared he let her go. While Severa grabbed onto Cordelia’s leg, Gaius grabbed her suitcase and pulled it in the door.

“Welcome home, honey,” Gaius breathed, his smile giddy as he gave his wife a peck on the cheek. 

“Everything looks perfect!” Cordelia exclaimed, looking around at the clean house. She kissed him on the lips, smiling as well. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Gaius told her, remembering how much his heart ached when he had to sleep in their bed alone, when he came home knowing that Cordelia wouldn’t be there.

“Mommy, mommy, look at my dress!” Severa demanded, taking Cordelia’s attention away from Gaius. 

“It’s so pretty, Severa!” Cordelia smiled, giving her a hug. As she pulled away, her fingers traced the braid that Gaius had done, and she smiled. “And the braid is very nice. Did daddy do that?”

“Yeah, and he made me sit still,” Severa pouted. “He said you didn’t like it when my hair was messy.” Cordelia laughed.

“Your daddy knows me very well,” she chuckled, holding Gaius’s hand. “Do I smell lasagna cooking?”

“You do,” Gaius replied. “I put it in just a bit ago so it’ll be a few minutes.”

“Mmm,” Cordelia hummed approvingly. “Maybe I’ll have to leave more often if this is the welcome I get,” she teased.

“Please don’t. We miss you,” Gaius replied, wrapping his arms around his wife. They were about to kiss again, but Severa started pulling at Cordelia’s coat. 

“Mommy, mommy, come look at the Christmas tree! I helped decorate it and everything!” Cordelia smiled.

“We’ll pick up where we left off later,” she said with a smile. “Right now I think I’m being called elsewhere.” Gaius laughed, and watched Cordelia and Severa with a smile. He still couldn’t believe that he’d gotten this lucky.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr [ here ](http://kireii-yume.tumblr.com)!


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